Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Anthony Dawson)
Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character and a supervillain from the James Bond series of novels and films, who was created by Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory. An evil genius with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of the British Secret Service agent James Bond and is head of the global criminal organisation SPECTRE. It was initially a convention of the films not to show Blofeld's face, only a closeup of him stroking his white blue-eyed Turkish Angora. Shared background Beginning in 1962, the EON series of Bond films placed a far greater emphasis on the SPECTRE organisation, which effectively replaced SMERSH as the primary antagonists of the early movies. As a result of this move, SPECTRE's leader, Blofeld, also plays a more prominent role than he had in the novels. Blofeld’s appearance and personality change according to the personifying actor: He has a full head of black hair in From Russia With Love and Thunderball; a facial dueling scar in You Only Live Twice; no scar or earlobes in On Her Majesty's Secret Service; and silver-grey hair in Diamonds Are Forever. This metamorphosing matches Fleming’s literary portrayal of a master criminal who will go to great lengths to preserve his anonymity, including the use of radical plastic surgery. He often wears a jacket without lapels, based loosely either on the Nehru jacket or on the Mao suit, a feature which is used in spoofs like the Austin Powers series. Films biography Although not present in the novel, Blofeld makes his first on-screen appearance in From Russia with Love, portrayed by Anthony Dawson and voiced by Eric Pohlmann. Both men remained uncredited, the end credits listed a question mark instead of an actor’s name. In this appearance his face is not seen and only his lower body is visible as he strokes his trademark white cat, discussing a plan to avenge the death of their member Doctor Julius No by setting a trap that will put Bond and Russian agent Tatiana Romanova in a position where it will appear that they killed each other while escaping to escalate tensions in the Cold War. After being absent from Goldfinger, Blofeld returned in Thunderball. Again, his identity was concealed, this time behind shutters and glass, as he chairs a meeting of the upper echelons of SPECTRE at their secretive board room in Paris, France. As each operative accounts for their respective projects to raise money for the organisation, Blofeld uncovers embezzlement involving two of the men and ruthlessly executes the guilty party by electrocution. With business dealt with, he invites Number 2, Emilio Largo, to brief the assembly on the organisation's scheme to steal two atomic warheads for the purpose of extorting money from the United Kingdom. In both early appearances he wore a black business suit, rather than the Nehru jacket or Mao suit he would later become associated with. In addition it can be seen he has a full head of dark hair. Henchmen & Associates Profile - Emilio Largo.png|Emilio Largo|link=Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) Profile - Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya).png|Rosa Klebb|link=Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) Profile - Count Lippe.png|Count Lippe|link=Count Lippe (Guy Doleman) Profile - Kronsteen.png|Kronsteen|link=Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal) Profile - Jacques Bouvar.png|Jacques Bouvar|link=Jacques Bouvar Profile - Dr No (Joseph Wiseman).png|Dr. Julius No|link=Dr. Julius No (Joseph Wiseman) Profile - Morzeny.png|Morzeny|link=Morzeny (Walter Gotell) Profile - Rhoda.png|Rhoda|link=Rhoda Profile - Red Grant (Robert Shaw).png|Red Grant|link=Red Grant (Robert Shaw) Profile - Fiona Volpe.png|Fiona Volpe|link=Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) Profile - Angelo Palazzi.png|Angelo Palazzi|link=Angelo Palazzi (Paul Stassino) See also *Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Literary) *Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence) *Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas) *Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Charles Gray) *Ernst Stavro Blofeld (John Hollis) *Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Max von Sydow) *SPECTRE Category:Film characters Category:From Russia with Love characters Category:Thunderball characters Category:Villains Category:Main villains Category:Voice Dubbed Characters Category:Blofeld Category:James Bond characters Category:Male characters